Hurricane Milton Further Threatens Supply Chains in Post-Helene Recovery
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Helene devastated parts of the southeastern U.S., supply chains are already having to prepare for another powerful hurricane expected to make landfall Wednesday.
On Monday morning, Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified into a Category 5 hurricane, strengthening as it passes through the Gulf of Mexico with maximum sustained winds of 160 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.
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The storm is expected to reach peak intensity Tuesday morning, and is forecast to weaken back to a Category 3 when it hits Florida’s Gulf coast by late Wednesday. Storm surges are anticipated to reach as high as eight to 12 feet in some areas on the coast.
In a Monday news conference, Governor Ron DeSantis encouraged residents on the western coast to evacuate, and said he anticipated a “flurry” of orders throughout the day.
Rainfall amounts of five to 10 inches, with localized totals up to 15 inches, are expected across portions of the Florida peninsula and the Keys through Wednesday night, the National Hurricane Center said.
Supply chains are still reeling in the wake of the relief efforts for Hurricane Helene, which was the deadliest hurricane to hit the U.S. mainland since Hurricane Katrina in 2005 with a death toll of 227 people across six states.
That storm reached the shore Sept. 26 as a Category 4 hurricane and carved a path of destruction as it moved northward from the “Big Bend” of Florida, through western Georgia and North Carolina, and into Tennessee. This caused mass floodings that created catastrophic damage, washing away homes, destroying roads and knocking out electricity for millions.
The operations of FedEx and UPS were all disrupted when the storm concentrated inland, with southwestern North Carolina seeing the largest impact. As of Friday, FedEx’s express and ground delivery had limited service across 529 ZIP codes in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. FedEx Freight limited to no service in 213 ZIP codes in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.
Two ZIP codes for FedEx offered no service, representing two of the most impacted towns by the flooding in North Carolina: Chimney Rock and Lake Lure. As of Monday, these ZIP codes are the only two UPS lists as being impacted.
The U.S. textile manufacturing industry saw significant impact from the hurricane as well, with several companies having been hard hit due to the storm—some with severe damage and others with idled plants, according to National Council of Textile Organizations (NCTO) president and CEO Kimberly Glas.
“We did have some manufacturers that had to idle their facility because of lack of power. Some had minor damage, like trees that fell and roofs that needed repair,” Glas told Sourcing Journal. “Then we have others where the challenges were more significant. We are working expeditiously to get their operations back up and running as quickly as possible at the same time, ensuring that their employees are safe and their families are taken care of.”
In the wake of the hurricane’s destruction, Glass had sent a letter to President Joe Biden Thursday asking his administration to intervene in the East and Gulf Coast ports strike. That three-day strike ended up being suspended that night when the parties came to a tentative agreement on wages.
“We had a lot of the industry dealing with this over the last few days. The first priority for our U.S. textile industry is their workers and their families and their friends, and these communities,” Glas said. “These U.S. textile plants have been operating in some of these communities for over 100 years, and oftentimes they are the base for the community.”
According to Glas, the U.S textile industry has had 21 plant closures over the last 18 months, which made the twin incidents of Hurricane Helene and the port strike further add pressure to the sectors. But she believes NCTO member companies, which still support 2 million workers in the U.S., will rebound from the challenges and supply chain disruptions.
“This industry is resilient. We have a lot of inventory built up that can easily get to customers very quickly,” said Glas. “I know the industry is going to bounce back relatively quickly as a result of some of this, but I don’t want to downplay that the storm has created challenges for everybody, especially in that area of the country.”
On the heels of Hurricane Helene, Hurricane Milton will have a significant impact on a variety of industries statewide including general manufacturing, freight, aerospace and defense, life sciences, oil and gas, tech and more.
According to supply chain mapping and monitoring solution Resilinc, Milton will affect a total of 12,410 sites responsible for activities like manufacturing, warehousing, distribution, fabrication and testing.
Resilinc says Milton will impact over 97,000 different parts at risk for products consumers use every day, as well as the manufacturing of nearly 11,000 products.